a

of a Partridge or à Poor Robin; whereas, even in these days an almanack-maker is one of the chief Mandarines in China; and could we once feel the inconvenience of being destitute of all knowledge relating to the course of the heavenly bodies, we should alter our opinion, and think. no structure too magnificent to mark an almanack upon, as soon as invented; but we carry almanacks in our pockets, and imagine this was always the case. Upou the whole, I have very little doubt but that the Obelisks were raised and used for the purposes above mentioned, even though later Egyptians believed, or at least pretended to adopt another system. It is well known that they supposed the hieroglyphics to contain an account of their kings. But, besides all other difficulties attending this explication, my worthy friend Mr. Stuart has made an observation which ren er it totally incredible; namely, the fewness of the characters, which, though sufficient to convey knowledge to the husbandman in all the great and capital articles, were by no means enough for the variety of matter that History furnishes. The cons ant repetition of the same figures is alone a proof of what I have as erted. We may therefore conclude with great probability, that the first Egyptian inscriptions on the Obelisks were a kind of almanacks for the common purposes of life, like that which is at the end of the Rei Rust cæ Scriptores."

These extracts, but especially the analysis, will show what reason there is to regret that a man of so much research and powers of thinking did not complete his intended work.

Among other pursuits Mr. S. culti vated and understood Music, both practically and theoretically; and this produced his "Treatise on the Frinciples and Power of Harmony," on which, says his Biographer, he seems to have bestowed unusual labour. It is, in fact, an analysis or abridgment of Tartini's "Traitato di Musica," with such an addition of new matter, that it may justly be deemed the joint production of Tartini and stillingfleet; and, in executing this, Mr. S. seems to have accomplished the wish of D'Alembert, namely," that Tartini would engage some man of letters equally practised in Musick and skilled in writing, to develope those ideas which he himself has not unfoided with sufficient perspicuity."

This was the last of Mr. Stilling fleet's publications; for he died, at his lodgings in Piccadilly opposite Burlington House, Dec. 15, 1771 (the

year this last-mentioned work was published), aged sixty-nine. He was interred in St. James's church, where his great nephew [Edward Hawke Locker, esq. third son of] Captain Locker, has recently erected a monument to his memory.

This notice of his death is followed by an elaborate and judicious character, drawn up by Mr. Coxe. We shall extract a part only:

"The merit most generally attributed to Mr. Stillingfleet is the service which he has rendered to our Natural History, and Agriculture. In the present age it may not be deemed a merit in a gentleman, who is at the same time a man of letters, to encourage such pursuits by precept and example; as we have numerous instances of men of the first rank and abilities, who have dedicated their time and labours to the promotion of this branch of useful knowledge. But, in the time of Mr. Stillingfleet, the case was far different; for few men of respectable rank in society were farmers; and still fewer, if any, gave the result of their experience and observations to the publick, On the contrary, there seems to have existed among the higher classes a strong prejudice against agricultural pursuits; which Mr. Stiling fleet took some pains to combat, and which, indeed, his example, as well as his precepts, greatly contributed to overcome. Many proofs occur in his writings, of his zeal for the improvement of our National Agriculture; to one of which we may particularly refer the reader, in the Memoranda for the History of Husbandry, pp. 599 to 604; where he displays the advantages conferred on practical Agriculture, by the researches and writings of men of science and letters. As a Poet, Mr. Stillingfleet is less known, because few of his compositions were ever given to the publick, and those were short, and confined to local or temporary subjects. The Essay on Conversation; the Poem on Earthquakes; the Dramas and Sonnets; will certainly entitle him to a place on the British Parnassus; but, when we consider his refined aud classical taste, his command of language, his rich and varied knowledge, and the flights of imagination which frequently escape from his rapid pen, we can have no hesitation in asserting, that if, instead of the haste in which he apparently prided himself, he had employed more patience and more assiduous correction, he would have attained no inconsiderable rank among our native Naturalist and a Poet, he possessed great Poets. Independently of his merits as a versatility of genius and multifarious know ledge. His intimate acquaintance with the higher brauches of the mathematics,

and

His personal character, which follows, is delineated impartially and with just discrimination. But, after so many specimens in his well-known works, it is somewhat too late to compliment Mr. Coxe on his excellence in this department of Biography*. It may be proper, however, to add, that these Memoirs are illustrated by an excellent Portrait and fac-simile of the handwriting of Mr. Stilling fleet, by Portraits of Mr. Price, Mr. Windham, and Mr. Neville, and an engraving of the monument in St. James's church.

We now proceed to notice the contents of Vol. II. which is divided into two Parts. The selection of Mr. Stil

lingfleet's works begins with his poetry, on the character of which we see no reason to differ from the opinion Mr. Coxe has given. The Sonnets and the Dramas are now printed for the first time. The latter were composed with a view to be set to music, in which state some of them were performed with various success.

The remainder of the Selection in this Volume, and in Vol. III., consists of Mr. Stilling fleet's "Miscellaneous Tracts on Natural History," already published, but now enriched by the Additional Observations of Professor Martyn. In the second edition of these Miscellaneous Tracts, published in 1762, the Observations on Grasses were accompanied by plates of the different species, most of them well drawn from Nature by his friend Mr. Price; it is now illustrated with a new series of engravings (which are coloured in the fine-paper copies) by

* As Mr. Coxe has said something of the Blue-stocking Club, of which Mr. S. was the most distinguished member, we are surprised that, instead of the short quotation from Bisset, who could know nothing of the parties, be did not give the elegant compliment paid to Mr. Stillingfleet by Sir William Forbes, in his Life of Dr. Beattie, where he might have

found an account of the Club from a mem

ber. See Life of Beattie, vol. I. p. 210,

Lote, 4to edition.

the masterly hand of Mr. Sowerby, instead of the original plates, which were, Mr. Coxe observes, "rather intended for the ordinary observer than the Botanist."

Then follow, now first published, the "Memoranda for the History of Husbandry," consisting of an Introduction, on Savage and Pastoral Life

Proofs of the flourishing State of Agriculture in Egypt at an early Period-Memoranda on Subjects relative to the Husbandry of the Greeks and Romans-Eleusinian MysteriesHesiod Theophrastus the Vine, Miseltoe, and Cytisus Geoponic Writers Virgil's Georgics-PlinyRemarks on early Agricultural Writers-Tusser-Turner-HeresbachHarrison Lord Bacon - Utility of such Writings-Maxims in FarmingGeorgics of the Mind-Improvement of Laud-Watering-Fences, and particularly the Bramble-Willows-Pillas, or naked Oats-Sheep-With an Appendix: No. 1. Of the Grasses mentioned by Theophrastus; and No. II. Index to the Calendars of Flora.

The value of these original and truly curious extracts cannot fail to be appreciated by every person conversant with the subject. Mr. S.'s remarks on Agricultural Writers are particularly valuable, and arc, as well as the other extracts, enriched by the learned and judicious notes of Professor Martyn and John Stackhouse, esq. a gentleman who is employed in illustrating the Works of Theophrastus.

Those of Mr. Stilling fleet, will now attain the rank in every library to which they are so justly entitled.'

2. The Life of Lord Nelson, by Mr. Clarke and Mr. M'Arthur, continued from our last Volume, p. 562.

WE shall resume this interesting publication by considering what may be esteemed the difficult and delicate part of a Biographer's task. No human being is perfect. In the brightest character some spots will be found; and to describe these without giving offence, and at the same time without violating the truth of history, is frequenily no easy matter-"Hic labor, hoc opus est." And, in this part, to speak honestly, we are not so perfectly satisfied with Mr. Clarke as in almost every thing else. At the same time, a partiality for his Hero may perhaps have biassed our judgment.

A Biogra

As

A Biographer may in some measure . be compared to a Portrait Painter; whose duty it is, whilst he preserves a likeness of the original, to make that likeness a favourable one. there was but one shade that ever we heard of in Lord Nelson's character, the Reader will be at no loss to know to what we allude. But, in justice to Mr. Clarke, it will be proper to descend to particulars. That Lord Nelson was warped by a certain unfortunate connexion from his usual rectitude and propriety of acting, is well known. But Mr. Clarke should not have prejudiced the mind of the Reader by giving a hint of it many years before the occurrence happened. In mentioning Lord Nelson's attachment to the present Viscountess before he was married to her, he takes an opportunity of alluding to that estrangement which took place so long after (sce vol. I. p. 77). This certainly is not to be defended; no more than when he says (p. 100) he "was yet untainted by the intrigues of an Italian Court," because it serves to produce an unnecessary prejudice in the Reader. We have reason, however, to know that there is some difference of opinion with regard to the general mode in which Mr. Clarke treats this unfortunate attachment during Lord Nelson's stay at Palermo and in the neighbourhood; and it is but justice to say that, upon the whole, Mr. Clarke has preserved a great deal of delicacy.

There are, we well know, persons of considerable consequence, who have even highly commended Mr. Clarke for neither glossing over nor concealing either this unfortunate attachment or the death of Caraccioli; and the inculpation of both transactions is wisely and allowably put into the mouths of his best friends and advisers. It does honour, likewise, to the integrity of the Writer, that the presence of Lady Hamilton on-board the ship where Caraccioli was tried is not suppressed. We honour Nelson almost to idolatry; but should have been sorry if his Biographer had suppressed or concealed, or even palliated, his failings. But let the fact speak for itself:

1

"It was the opinion of Helen Maria Willams, and certainly of many other persons, that in these transactions Lady Hamilton took an active part. Of her

being present at the execution of Caraccioli, there cannot be the least doubt; but it is to be hoped, for the honour of her sex and of her country, that she never directly or indirectly encouraged that vindictive spirit, which too much pervaded the Council of the King, and the adminis→ tration of the Neapolitan State Junto, after his Majesty had returned to Palermo. Emma Lady Hamilton, one of the most extraordinary women of the age, amidst all her faults, was more noted for her general attention and hospitality, than for any deliberate acts of cruelty towards the Neapolitans, by whom she was in general adored. In the voluptuous Court of the Sicilian Monarch her fascinating person commanded a very powerful influence; danger, she never forgot the character but, in a situation of so much delicacy and that was expected from the wife of an English Ambassador, nor was deficient in any of those courtesies and friendly attentions which mark a liberal and humane disposition. From the arrival of the British squadron at Naples, she had exerted herself to support that good cause for which Admiral Nelson had been detached; and having in this respect rendered some service, the natural vanity of her mind led her to imagine, and to endeavour to make the noble Admiral and others believe, that from her alone proceeded the means of performing those great events which threw such a splendour on the favourite object of her idolatry. Her leading passion was the love of celebrity; and it was this passion, added to the above delusion, which gradually brought on that fatal and highly-wrought attachment which she formed for the Hero of Aboukir; for it was the hero, and not the individual, which had captivated her glowing imagination. Its ardour, as it increased, overpowered the natural kindness of her disposition, and eventually involved her in an endless succession of private altercation and public disappointment.-On his return to Naples, July 8, 1799, his Sicilian Majesty again held his Court and resided on-board Lord Nelson's ship, under the secure protection of the British flag; where he enjoyed the constant loyalty, more particularly of the lower classes of his subjects, and renewed that courtesy and condescension to all ranks, which had retained so powerful an ascendancy over the artifices and calumnies of the French. About a week afterwards, a Neapolitan who had been fishing in the Bay came one morning to the Foudroyant, and assured the officers that Caraccioli had been seen, who had risen from the bottom of the sea, and was coming as fast as he could to Naples, swimming half out of the water. The story of the Neapolitan was slightly mentioned to his Majesty. The day bemy favourable, Lord Nelson,

as

other branches of this distinguished family, and from an highly-interesting memoir in the late noble Admiral's hand-writing (of which a fac-simile is given), sent by him to John M'Arthur, esq. who also possesses a variety of other interesting MSS. re

ceived from confidential friends of the deceased Hero, and from officers of rank who served with him. This junction of two separate collections of documents was arranged under the auspices, and at the express recommendation, of his Royal Highness the Prince of Wales; and has enabled the Editors to offer to the publick a most ample detail of the singular occurrences of Lord Nelson's life, and a connected and faithful narrative of the various circumstances which could throw light on his character and services. The gentleman who had undertaken a similar work under the sanction of Earl Nelson, and had made some progress in it, desisted, from motives of respect.

The embellishments consist of a variety of elegant engravings, from original paintings by Benjamin West, esq. R. A. the late Mr. Abbot, Richard Westall, R. A. and Nicholas Pocock, esqrs. engraved by Mr. Heath, historical engraver to his Majesty, Mr. Fittler, &c. &c.

3. Prayers collected from the several Writings of Jeremy Taylor, D. D. Bishop of Down and Connor, adapted to the Family, the Closet, the Sacrament, &c. &c. &c. By the Rev. Samuel Clapham, M. A. Vicar of Christ Church, and Rector of Gussage St. Michael.

Mr. CLAPHAM frequently appears as an Editor of books: much of his time seems to be employed in producing to the world writings which have the highest tendency to promote the interests of society, and which are not always accessible to the generality of readers. Such laudable endeavours, therefore, whilst they claim the approbation of the wise and the good, must afford abundantly more satisfaction to a mind so usefully em-. ployed, than is to be derived either from convivial pleasures or secular engagements. When a Clergyman, after discharging his pastoral duties, devotes the remainder of his leisure to the religious improvement of the world at large; when, in return for GENT. MAG. January, 1811,

the support he receives from the Church, which enables him to live with comfort and respectability, he labours with diligence to improve her children in understanding and knowledge, in morals and piety, he is then fulfilling the whole of his duty: such an one can truly say that he was moved by the Holy Ghost to take upon him the sacred office. The Church of England would stand on a more sure foundation than it now does, were all the Clergy engaged in pursuits equally laudable.

The work before us is divided into Five Parts. The First contains a Morning and Evening Prayer for a Family, for each day in the week; as also Prayers for the morning and evening of a Communion. The Second is appropriated to the closet, and consists of Meditations and Prayers for seven successive mornings and evenings. The Meditations not only for this, but likewise for the Third Part, are composed of passages of Scripture adapted to the several states of mind in which a reflecting person occasionally feels himself, and will certainly in every state administer comfort and peace. The next portion contains medita tions, as we have said, and also prayers, for the week previous to the Communion. Both are truly admirable: the soul in a peculiar man ner draws nigh to God, humbled, indeed, in the dust, yet encouraged to say, Why art thou cast down? The devotions appointed for the week after the Sacrament are well calculated to cherish religious principles. The Fifth Part comprizes Prayers suitable for every situation and cir cumstance in life. Whatever be the necessities, whatever the occurrences, the devout mind will find a proper subject of address to God. Prayers, with Thanksgivings, are adapted to the several seasons of the Church; the Clergy are supplied with forms for their flocks, and for a blessing on their labours; Parents, likewise, for their children, whether living at home, employed abroad, or serving in wars: in short, for every family, in sickness, in health, whether a part of it be living in the fear of God, or without religious impressions; whether an increase is given to it, cr it mourns the loss of a relative, the most appropriate and pious devotions are

provided.